TAOIST  IDEAS  OF  HUMAN  ANATOMY 


E.  V.  COWDRY,  PH.D. 

PEKING,  CHINA 


REPRINTED  FROM  VOLUME  III,  NUMBER  4 

ANNALS  OF  MEDICAL  HISTORY 

PUBLISHED  BY  PAUL  B.  HOEBER,  NEW  YORK 


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PAUL  B.  HOEBER,  67-7 1  EAST  59TH  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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TAOIST  IDEAS  OF  HUMAN  ANATOMY 

E.  V.  COWDRY,  PH.D.* 

PEKING,  CHINA 


HE  White  Cloud 
Temple,  situated 
about  half  a  mile 
outside  the  Hsi  Pian 
Gate  of  Peking,  con¬ 
tains  by  far  the  most 
complete  library  of 
Taoist  medical  and 
literary  books,  but  to  study  them  is 
no  easy  matter.  It  is  necessary  in  the 
first  place,  to  find  a  friend  of  the  High 
Priest  to  act  as  go-between.  Fortunately 
Mr.  Ma  Kiam,  who  has  helped  me 
throughout  in  the  most  generous  way,  was 
able  to  secure  introduction  through  the 
kindness  and  courtesy  of  Mr.  Hsu  Seng 
Yu  of  the  Department  of  Education. 
Nevertheless,  when  all  was  in  readiness,  a 
message  was  received  saying  that  the 
High  Priest  was  obliged  to  pay  a  visit 
to  the  Western  Hills  and  could  not  see  us; 
so  the  next  Sunday  plans  were  made  to 
visit  the  temple  in  the  afternoon.  Another 
message  came  that  there  were  services  in 
the  afternoon  and  that  we  must  come  in  the 

*  Anatomical  Laboratory,  Peking  Union  Medical 
College. 


morning  or  not  at  all.  We  secured  a  motor 
car,  on  a  very  few  minutes  notice,  and  set 
out. 

With  commendable  foresight  Mr.  Hsu 
brought  with  him  a  fine  old  Chinese  book 
eulogizing  the  memory  of  the  first  High 
Priest  of  the  Temple  who  lived  and  died 
many  hundred  years  ago.  This  tickled  the 
fancy  of  the  present  incumbent  mightily. 
When  we  came  the  second  time,  after 
going  through  the  usual  preliminaries  of 
drinking  tea  with  the  junior  priests  and 
then  with  the  Chief  himself,  we  presented 
him  with  a  photograph  which  pleased  him 
still  more,  and  for  a  very  singular  reason. 
The  photograph  is  here  shown  (Fig.  i) 
and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  sun  is  shining 
brightly  upon  the  front  of  the  black  silk 
hat  which  he  is  wearing.  This  brightness 
he  declares  to  be  the  fire  of  his  own  intellect 
(“his  inward  flame”),  and  we  alone  have 
thus  far  succeeded  in  photographing  it. 
He  has  asked  for  many  copies  to  send  to 
his  friends  and  we  have  risen  so  high  in  his 
estimation  that  he  has  ordered  some  of  his 
priests  to  our  hospital  for  medical  treat¬ 
ment.  He  is  indeed  a  fine  old  man,  well 


301 


302 


Annals  of  Medical  History 


beyond  the  average  in  height  and  with  a 
beard  containing  just  seventeen  carefully 
cultivated  hairs.  He  is  of  the  opinion  that 
to  be  healthy  one  must  be  happy  and  he 
lives  up  to  it. 

After  about  ten  days,  he  returned  our 
call  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  show  him 


Fig.  i.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  sun  is  shining  brightly  upon 
the  front  of  the  High  Priest’s  silk  hat.  This  brightness  he 
declares  to  be  the  fire  of  his  own  intellect  and  compliments 
us  on  our  success  in  photographing  it  for  the  first  time. 

everything  and  to  listen  to  his  comments. 
He  was  pleased  with  the  deference  of  our 
students  and  delivered  himself  of  a  little 
impromptu  address,  in  the  dissecting  room, 
on  his  ideas  of  the  circulation  of  semen  up 
the  back  and  through  the  three  “burning- 
spaces”  (approximately,  thorax,  upper  and 
lower  abdomen).  It  was  indeed  an  interest¬ 
ing  study  in  contrast,  this  courtly  priest 
in  his  gorgeous  blue  silk  robes  surrounded 
by  our  white-clad  students  pressing  close 


and  pouring  eager  questions  into  his  deaf 
old  ears.  We  passed  from  building  to  build¬ 
ing.  The  changes  in  the  color  of  the  chem¬ 
ical  indicators  in  Miss  Embrey’s  laboratory 
seemed  like  magic.  He  entered  an  elevator 
for  the  first  time,  saw  something  of  the 
marvels  of  electricity  and  at  the  end  of 
two  hours  was  quite  bewildered.  But  not 
once  did  he  voice  the  usual  comment  of 
Chinese  visitors:  “How  skillful  are  these 
Americans  in  devising  new  ways  of  wasting 
money!”  He  is  a  personage,  calm  and  dig¬ 
nified,  like  the  Lama  in  “Kim”  and  not 
poor  in  worldly  goods.  His  temple  is  said 
to  be  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  China  and 
was  greatly  enriched  by  the  late  Empress 
Dowager,  through  the  Taoist,  “Kow,” 
whom  she  honored.  In  1227  a.d.,  it  was 
called  the  “Tai  Chi  Palace”  and  was  made 
the  official  residence  of  the  First  High 
Priest  (Chen  Chu  Chi)  by  the  Emperor 
Gengis  of  the  Yuan  Dynasty.  The  buildings 
are  truly  regal  and  house  two  hundred 
priests,  who,  according  to  the  canons  of 
their  faith,  are  allowed  to  marry  and  keep 
families.  The  High  Priest  claims  not  to 
avail  himself  of  the  privilege. 

The  father  of  Taoism,  Lao  Tzii,  wrote 
his  famous  book,  the  “Tao  Te  Ching,” 
about  six  centuries  before  Christ.  Some  say 
that  he  was  born  of  a  virgin  “who  conceived 
him  at  the  sight  of  a  falling  star.”  A  few 
short  quotations  from  Giles’  translation1 
will  indicate  the  simplicity  of  his  message: 

There  is  something,  chaotic  yet  complete, 
which  existed  before  Heaven  and  Earth.  Oh, 
how  still  it  is  and  formless,  standing  alone  with¬ 
out  changing,  reaching  everywhere  without 
suffering  harm!  It  must  be  regarded  as  the 
Mother  of  the  Universe.  Its  name  I  know  not. 
To  designate  it,  I  call  it  Tao. 

Tao  eludes  the  sense  of  sight,  and  is  therefore 
called  colorless.  It  eludes  the  sense  of  hearing, 
and  is  therefore  called  soundless.  It  eludes  the 

1  Giles,  Lionel.  The  Sayings  of  Lao  Tzii.  The 
Wisdom  of  the  East  Series.  John  Murray,  London, 
1917. 


Taoist  Ideas  of  Human  Anatomy 


303 


sense  of  touch,  and  is  therefore  called  incor¬ 
poreal.  These  three  qualities  cannot  be  appre¬ 
hended  and  hence  may  be  merged  into  unity. 

Tao  produced  Unity;  Unity  produced  Dual¬ 
ity;  Duality  produced  Trinity;  and  Trinity 
produced  all  existing  objects. 

Thus  it  is  that  Tao,  engendering  all  things, 
nourishes  them,  develops  them,  and  fosters 
them;  perfects  them,  ripens  them,  tends  them 
and  protects  them. 

Tao  is  the  sanctuary  where  all  things  find 
refuge,  the  good  man’s  priceless  treasure,  the 
guardian  and  savior  of  him  who  is  not  good. 

Why  was  it  that  the  men  of  old  esteemed 
this  Tao  so  highly?  Is  it  not  because  it  may  be 
daily  sought  and  found,  and  can  remit  the  sins 
of  the  guilty? 

It  is  the  Way  of  Heaven  to  take  from  those 
who  have  too  much,  and  to  give  to  those  who 
have  too  little. 

He  who  exalts  himself  does  not  rise  high. 

He  who  overcomes  others  is  strong,  but  he 
who  overcomes  himself  is  mightier  still. 

Good  words  shall  gain  you  honor  in  the 
market-place,  but  good  deeds  shall  gain  you 
friends  among  men. 

To  the  good  I  would  be  good;  to  the  not- 
good  I  would  also  be  good,  in  order  to  make 
them  good. 

Requite  injury  with  kindness. 

Keep  behind,  and  you  shall  be  put  in  front; 
keep  out,  and  you  shall  be  kept  in. 

What  makes  a  kingdom  great  is  its  being 
like  a  down-flowing  river.  .  . or  like  the  female 
throughout  the  world,  who  by  quiescence  always 
overcomes  the  male.  And  quiescence  is  a  form 
of  humility. 

This  gospel  of  kindliness  soon  underwent 
the  most  unspeakable  degradation  so  that 
Kublai  Khan  ordered  all  Taoist  books, 
with  the  exception  of  the  “Tao  Te  Ching,” 
to  be  burnt.  I  like  to  think  of  the  old 
High  Priest  as  an  exception  proving  that 
there  is  a  little  good  in  everything.  But 
Lao  Tzu’s  “laissez-faire”  philosophy  still 
lingers  and  forms  the  stumbling  block  of 
the  whole  Chinese  nation.  It  may  be  ex¬ 
pressed  in  the  words  of  Giles’  translation 
as  follows: 


Who  is  there  that  can  make  muddy  water 
clean?  But  if  allowed  to  remain  still,  it  will 
gradually  become  clear  itself. 

Keep  the  mouth  shut,  close  the  gateways  of 
sense,  and  as  long  as  you  live  you  will  have  no 
trouble. 

Practice  inaction,  occupy  yourself  with  doing 
nothing. 


Fig.  2.  The  books  are  kept  in  a  series  of  Chinese  chests 
behind  large  images.  Some  are  shown  on  the  extreme  right 
in  the  photograph. 


Leave  all  things  to  take  their  natural  course, 
and  do  not  interfere. 

Every  assistance  was  given  to  us  in  the 
examination  of  the  library  with  its  record 
of  this  philosophy.  According  to  the  High 
Priest,  we  were  the  first  foreigners  to  be 
admitted.  The  statement  should,  however, 
be  taken  with  a  grain  of  salt;  it  may  have 
been  made  to  please  us,  or  he  may  have 
been  misinformed.  The  library  contains 
5,485  volumes  printed  during  the  reign 
of  the  Emperor  Cheng  Tung  (1436-1449 
a.d.).  Some  of  them  are  copies  of  old 
Chinese  classics  without  Taoist  tendencies. 
All  the  books  are  kept  in  Chinese  chests 
sealed  up  with  strips  of  paper  because  the 
library  is  a  secret  one  and  is  not  open  to 
the  public.  Some  of  these  chests  may  be 
seen  behind  the  images  in  the  illustration 
(Fig.  2).  They  are  bound  quite  differently 


304 


Annals  of  Medical  History 


from  those  in  the  library  of  the  Boy  Em¬ 
peror,  being  arranged  so  that  each  volume 
will  unfold  to  a  length  of  fifty  or  an  hun¬ 
dred  feet  like  a  sort  of  scroll.  Old  type  used 
in  printing  the  catalogue  of  the  library, 
which  was  done  quite  recently  under  Mr. 


Fig.  3.  Old  type  used  in  printing  the  catalogue  of  the  library 
is  piled  up  between  the  minor  shrines. 


Hsu’s  supervision,  is  piled  up  between  the 
minor  shrines  (Fig.  3).  The  books  are 
unique  and  of  great  value,  but  no  special 
care  is  taken  to  guard  them.  They  are  kept 
on  the  second  floor  of  a  building  con¬ 
structed  almost  entirely  of  wood.  Perhaps 
the  reason  why  they  have  lasted  so  long  is 
that  they  have  been  so  completely  forgot¬ 
ten.  Certainly  the  foreign  troops  who  looted 
Peking  in  1900  would  have  paid  a  visit  to 
the  White  Cloud  Temple  had  they  known 
of  the  treasures  that  it  contains. 

The  High  Priest  (Chen  Yu  Kuen)  fully 
appreciates  the  desirability  of  having  the 
books  reprinted;  but  he  is  a  wise  old  man 
and  declined  the  offer  of  the  Commercial 
Press  in  Shanghai  because  he  knew  that 
if  the  books  ever  left  Peking  he  would 
never  see  them  again.  The  Commercial 


Press  is  now  opening  an  office  in  Peking 
and  President  Hsu  is  reported  to  be  taking 
an  active  interest  in  the  negotiations.  The 
idea  is  to  print  one  hundred  copies  of 
each  of  the  books  at  a  total  cost  of  about 
$400,000,  Mexican,  or,  at  the  present  rate 


Fig.  4.  A  white  tiger  inhabits  Fig.  5.  A  turtle  and  snake 
the  lungs.  reside  in  the  gall-bladder. 

of  exchange  (March,  1921),  of  $180,000, 
United  States  currency.  But  plans  miscarry 
in  China  and  we  shall  have  reason  to  be 
thankful  if  the  library  continues  to  be 
spared  from  looting  and  from  fire,  and 
remains  accessible  to  those  who  really  care 
to  use  it. 

We  examined  the  books  in  the  dim  light 
of  the  temple  on  one  of  the  altars  before 
the  images.  None  of  the  drawings  is  in¬ 
tended  as  acupuncture  charts  or  as  guides 
for  the  application  of  moxa.  The  central 
idea  of  this  perverted  Taoism  is  demoniac. 
Great  attention  is  paid  to  animals.  The 
White  Cloud  Temple  is,  in  fact,  an  asylum 
for  old  and  decrepit  pigs  and  for  certain 
kinds  of  birds  which  are  kept  in  comfort 


Taoist  Ideas  of  Human  Anatomy 


305 


until  they  die.  Each  of  the  six  organs  of  the 
human  body  is  thought  to  be  inhabited  by 
a  certain  animal  as  illustrated  in  a  book  of 
the  Sung  Dynasty,  whose  author  has  chosen 
to  remain  anonymous.  A  white  tiger  in¬ 
habits  the  lungs  (Fig.  4),  a  turtle  and  a 


expect  in  a  posterior  view),  the  kidneys 
connecting  with  the  spinal  cord.  Why  the 
author  has  transposed  everything,  placing 
the  liver  on  the  left  side  and  the  spleen  on 
the  right,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  The  drawings 
have  probably  never  been  examined  critic- 


Fig.  6.  A  dragon  has  its  home  Fig.  7.  A  phoenix  lives  in 
in  the  liver.  the  spleen. 


snake  reside  in  the  gall-bladder  (Fig.  5),  a 
dragon  has  its  home  in  the  liver  (Fig.  6), 
a  phoenix  lives  in  the  spleen  (Fig.  7),  a  red 
bird  in  the  heart  (Fig.  8),  and  a  deer  with 
two' heads  in  the  kidneys  (Fig.  9). 

The  “Nan  Ching,”  written  by  Li  Chung 
in  the  fifth  year  of  the  Emperor  Hsien  Sung 
(1269  a.d.),  is,  from  our  point  of  view,  the 
most  valuable  book  in  the  collection.  It 
contains  diagrams  of  the  viscera  viewed 
from  the  front  (Fig.  10)  and  from  behind 
(Fig.  11).  The  anterior  view  shows  the 
liver  in  black  on  the  left  side  (of  the  body), 
the  Iobulated  lungs  above,  the  stomach  in 
the  middle  and  the  spleen  on  the  extreme 
right.  The  other  diagram  shows  the  same 
arrangement  and,  in  addition  (as  one  would 


Fig.  8.  A  red  bird  lives  in 
the  heart. 


Fig.  9.  A  deer  with  two 
heads  lives  in  the  kidneys. 


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Annals  of  Medical  History 


ally  enough  in  the  last  six  hundred  years  to 
detect  the  mistake. 

Fig.  12  is  a  composite  drawing  indicating 
how  elaborate  are  the  relations  of  the  vari¬ 
ous  spirits  and  genii.  Fig.  13  directs  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  exact  place  where  the  pulse  should 
be  felt  during  the  twenty-four  seasons  of 
the  year  (in  the  summer  nearer  the  fingers, 
and  in  the  winter,  farther  up  the  arm). 
Fig.  14  is  designed  to  illustrate  differences 
in  temperature  in  different  parts  of  the 
body.  At  the  head  is  a  broken  line  be- 


The  “Nan  Ching”  contains  many  other 
diagrams  and  an  interesting  picture  of  a 
disciple  worshipping  three  Buddhas  in  the 
familiar  storm-cloud  setting  (Fig.  15).  It 
closes  with  a  representation  of  the  spirit 
which  is  held  responsible  for  its  protection, 
who  is  likewise  surrounded  with  billowy 
storm-clouds  and  is  armed  with  a  double 
headed  axe  (Fig.  16). 

These  ideas  of  anatomy  have  a  strong 
flavor  of  Buddhism.  They  have  been  handed 
down  from  antiquity,  originating  perhaps 


Fig.  11.  Viscera  from  the  back. 


Fig.  12.  A  composite  drawing  indicating  how  elaborate  are 
the  relations  of  the  various  spirits  and  genii. 


tween  two  solid  lines,  which  means  fire, 
and  at  the  feet  is  a  solid  line  between  two 
broken  ones,  which  means  water.  Going 
upward  toward  the  head  the  temperature 
of  the  body  increases,  which  is  thought  to 
explain  the  circumstance  that  clothing  is 
not  needed  to  protect  the  head  from  cold. 
The  other  signs  indicate  combinations  of 
male  and  female  principles.  The  pure  male 
principle  (not  here  shown)  is  represented 
by  three  solid  lines  which  also  indicate 
Heaven;  the  pure  female  principle  by  three 
broken  lines  which  also  signify  Earth.  A 
proper  association  of  these  principles  is 
essential  for  fife  and  happiness. 


in  the  study  of  animals  with  occasional 
verification  at  executions  by  the  method 
of  “a  thousand  cuts”  (slicing  process).2 
With  each  transference  the  diagrams  have 
become  less  and  less  like  the  organs  which 
they  are  supposed  to  represent  so  that 
all  (Figs.  4-9),  except  the  lungs  and  kid¬ 
neys,  are  quite  unrecognizable  without  the 
help  of  the  Chinese  text. 

Taoists  do  not  carry  on  any  active  in¬ 
struction  in  anatomy.  Ideas  are  merely 
traditional  and  diffused  from  the  priests 
to  the  laity  in  garbled  form.  Apparently  no 

2  Hsieh,  E.  T.  A  Review  of  Ancient  Chinese 
Anatomy.  Anat.  Rec.,  Phila.,  1921,  xx,  97. 


Taoist  Ideas  of  Human  Anatomy 


307 


new  books  are  written.  How  different  it  is 
with  the  conceptions  of  anatomy  which 
underlie  the  art  of  needling  (or  acupunc¬ 
ture)  !  These  are  actively  taught  by  the 
apprentice  method,  and  in  small  schools, 
to  students  throughout  the  great  Republic. 
It  is  the  old  and  familiar  doctrine  of  the 
circulation  of  humors  over  again.  Life  is 
thought  to  depend  upon  an  appropriate 
adjustment  between  circulating  male  and 
female  principles.  In  disease,  the  malicious 
excess  of  one  or  the  other  is  removed  by 


Fig.  13.  Attention  is  directed  to  the  exact  place  where  the 
pulse  should  be  felt  during  the  twenty-four  seasons  of  the 

year. 

inserting  needles  of  great  variety  into  the 
body  in  certain  very  definite  localities.  It 
is  recognized  in  the  office  of  Imperial  Phy¬ 
sicians,  where  the  official  text  book,  called 
the  “Golden  Mirror,”  published  under 
the  patronage  of  the  illustrious  Emperor 
K’ang  Hsi  (1661-1722  a.d.),  may  be  seen. 
The  anatomical  drawings  contained  in  this 
book  are  a  considerable  improvement  since 
most  of  them  can  be  identified  without 
reading  the  text.  It  is  unsafe  to  go  very  far 


in  an  attempt  to  specify  Taoist  ideas  of 
anatomy  because  the  religions  of  China  are 
such  a  wonderful  mixture. 

We  are  told  that  forty  different  sects  of 
Taoists  can  be  counted  in  Peking  and  its 
vicinity,  but  they  become  less  powerful  as 
one  travels  toward  the  south  of  China. 
They  all,  however,  have  fundamentally  the 
same  ideas  and  constitute  a  large  and  im¬ 
portant  element  in  the  population.  They 
are  not  supposed  to  believe  in  healing  by 
relieving  the  body  of  the  “malicious  excess” 


Fig.  14.  Diagram  indicating  increases  in  body  temperature 
as  one  passes  toward  the  head. 

of  male  or  female  principles  through  need¬ 
ling,  though  they  may  sometimes  practice 
it.  The  Taoist  pharmacopeia  is  restricted 
entirely  to  mineral  preparations,  all  the 
animal  excreta,  “spirit  pills,”  made  of 
tapeworms  soaked  in  children’s  urine,  finger 
nails,  etc.,  being  omitted.  They  have  not 
tried  to  devise  concoctions  which  would  be 
so  disgusting  that  the  offending  demons 
would  flee  in  terror.  The  priests  sometimes 
attempt  to  distill  mercury.  When  the  dis- 


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Annals  of  Medical  History 


tilling  has  been  successfully  repeated  nine 
times,  the  resulting  substance  will  be  the 
“Elixir  of  Life.”  One  of  the  priests  of  the 
White  Cloud  Temple  is  said  to  have  been 
killed  by  an  explosion  during  the  sixth 
distillation.  Their  panacea  for  all  ills  is  to 
make  the  mind  absolutely  blank  and  to 


them.  On  the  Chinese  New  Year  and  other 
festal  occasions  he  takes  a  long  holiday, 
goes  through  the  ceremonial  and  buys  a 
few  coppers’  worth  of  cheap  incense.  For¬ 
eigners  are  quick  to  notice  the  absence  of 
any  expression  of  reverence.  The  priests 
speak  in  loud  tones  and  do  not  act  as  if 


TWrt'f 


■ 


Fig.  15.  A  disciple  worshipping  three  Buddhas  in  the  familiar  stormcloud  setting. 


remain  motionless  in  accordance  with  the 
Master’s  teaching;  but  no  cures  have  re¬ 
cently  been  reported. 

Evidently  one  of  the  prerequisites  to  the 
introduction  of  modern  medicine  into  China 
is  a  readjustment  of  the  habit  of  mind  of 
the  people,  whether  they  be  Taoists,  Budd¬ 
hists  or  Confucianists.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
the  average  Chinese,  in  order  to  be  quite 
on  the  safe  side,  espouses  all  three  faiths 
in  a  half-hearted  way,  and  has  no  really 
serious  conviction  regarding  any  one  of 


they  were  treading  upon  holy  ground.  In 
the  sanctuary  of  the  Taoist  Temple  of  the 
Universe,  Christian  Bibles,  printed  in  Chin¬ 
ese,  are  quite  openly  offered  for  sale.  Stacks 
of  them  may  be  seen  in  a  cloud  of  incense 
upon  one  of  the  sacrificial  tables  immedi¬ 
ately  before  the  largest  image.  If  Roman 
Catholic  priests  were  to  sell  Chinese  idols 
under  the  dome  of  St.  Peter’s,  we  should 
be  inclined  to  accuse  them  of  insincerity. 
About  five  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
Confucius  begged  the  nation  to  be  sincere 


Taoist  Ideas  of  Human  Anatomy 


309 


and  to  refrain  from  contemplation  of  the 
supernatural:3 

Be  sincere  and  men  will  trust  you. 

Make  conscientiousness  and  sincerity  your 
main  object. 

I  do  not  see  how  a  man  without  sincerity 
can  be  good  for  anything. 


Fig.  16.  The  spirit  which  is  held  responsible  for  protecting 
the  “Nan  Ching.” 


living,  how  can  we  do  it  by  the  spirits  of  the 
dead? 

3  Giles,  Lionel.  The  Sayings  of  Confucius.  The 
Wisdom  of  the  East  Series.  John  Murray,  London, 
1912. 


Before  we  know  what  life  is,  how  can  we 
know  what  death  is? 

Absorption  in  the  study  of  the  supernatural 
is  most  harmful. 

Why,  it  may  then  be  asked,  do  the  people 
fly  right  in  the  face  of  the  Master’s  teach¬ 
ing?  The  ignorant  are  perhaps  inspired  by 
fear,  the  educated  by  a  reluctance  to  lose 
face.  Their  forefathers  have  bent  the  knee 
and  offered  incense  for  forty  centuries.  It 
would  be  presumptuous  for  them  to  fail  in 
the  practice  and  thus  to  repudiate  the 
actions  of  their  long  line  of  ancestors.  More 
perhaps  than  any  other  nation  on  Earth, 
the  Chinese  treasure  their  past.  In  the 
Office  of  Imperial  Physicians,4  an  image  of 
Huangti,  the  mythical  father  of  Chinese 
medicine,  is  worshipped  twice  a  year  and 
the  practice  condoned  by  Chinese  who  have 
taken  their  medical  degrees  in  the  United 
States  and  who  apparently  see  nothing  in¬ 
congruous  in  it.  For  them  it  is  merely  an 
appropriate  memorial  to  the  glorious  past, 
sanctioned  by  custom. 

Very  little  progress  can  be  made  before 
the  people  of  the  nation  learn  to  look  for¬ 
ward  as  well  as  backward  and  to  realize 
that  the  most  appropriate  offering  they 
can  make  to  their  ancestors  is  to  be  per¬ 
fectly  sincere  in  all  their  dealings,  to  have 
done  with  blind  ceremonial  and  to  use  the 
brains  which  have  been  handed  dowm  to 
them  to  the  very  best  advantage,  reason¬ 
ing  out  the  simpler  facts  of  existence  for 
themselves.  “Young  man  know  thyself” — 
is  a  command  the  utilitarian  value  of  which 
is  certainly  not  appreciated  in  China.  Illit¬ 
erate  children  at  home  know  more  of  their 
bodily  makeup  than  the  most  venerable  of 
Chinese  sages.  But  with  knowledge  of  anat¬ 
omy,  a  persistent  yet  unwelcome  visitor, 
superstition,  with  its  cast-iron  limitations 
is  bound  to  become  less  powerful. 

4  Cowdry,  E.  V.  The  Office  of  Imperial  Physi¬ 
cians,  Peking. 


